


one other way

by laika_space



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Endgame, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, One Big Happy Family, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:25:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18624157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laika_space/pseuds/laika_space
Summary: What if there were TWO paths out of 14,000,605 where the Avengers won?What if it didnt happen the way we all saw on the big screen?This is a dive into what would have happened afterward if Endgame had gone a little differently.((ENDGAME SPOILERS))





	1. A Smooth Landing

"...and I...am...IronMan."

With a deep breath, Tony snapped his fingers and let the world go white.

****************************

Peter was having a blast, honestly. Really, he was. When you ignore the blasting loud agony of war, and take away the pain and the blood and the screams, being an Avenger is a lot of fun.

Peter had come back from the soul stone, kicked some serious ass, and gotten a much-needed hug from Mr. Stark.

Unfortunately, his lucky streak didnt last long. Only after surrendering the Infinity Stones to the beautifully terrifying blonde lady did Peter realize how much pain he was in.

His eyes were swelling shut, blood leaking from both of his nostrils as well as a few gashes on his face. His chest ached as air struggled to reach his lungs. The iron spider suit, however, was able to sufficiently protect his torso, arms, and legs.

Peter knew this was a horrible time to give in to his exhaustion, but everyone else seemed to be handling things just fine.

Peter's rational mind was in pieces. _**SLEEP**_ , his conscience screamed.

He'd felt like he'd had enough adrenaline to carry him for weeks, but now his body felt like a bag of bricks.

The kid tried to hold himself up, he really did. He had no control over himself as he crashed into the dirt with a soft _thud_.

He couldn't move. He fought to keep his eyes open. He felt a sluggish demon trying to crawl through his heart and force him under the ocean of unconsciousness.

Around him, agony raged on. Soldiers of Earthly, magical, and alien origins slaughtering one another.

Peter felt the ground rumble with every footstep. He heard ever body that hit the ground. He smelled blood and tears. Every scream or war cry that punctured the air would split his head open.

    "KID, LOOK OUT!!" Someone, maybe Sam, screamed. "GET UP!"

Peter only had enough energy to turn his head and see a mass of black hurdling itself towards him. An ugly monster the size of a van, snarling and baring its foot-long teeth, was barreling directly in Peter's direction.

 _Oh, God_. Peter thought. The monster was nearing him, and Peter hadn't moved an inch.

Sam, who Peter was now sure was the one to scream the warning, was trying to fend off three beasts single handedly. There was no way for anyone to get to the kid before the hellish behemoth ripped him to shreds.

The creature was now around forty feet away from the young avenger.

Thirty.

Twenty.

Ten.

Five.

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that everything would be gone when he opened them. Hoping he would wake up in May's arms. Hell, he hoped he would wake up in his parents arms and realize that he was still only five years old.

Peter felt nothing; no impact, no teeth or claws peircing his body. Nothing.

The screams, the sounds of bodies hitting the floor, the war cries... They all seemed to fade away into silence.

Peter opened his eyes.

Inches away from his face, a cloud of ashen dust danced in the air.

The monster was dust.

_Dust._

Dust? Just like Titan. Just like Starlord, Drax, Mantis, Dr. Strange... reduced to swirls of flakey ashes.

But this time, the good guys stay.

Sam Wilson, wingsuit heavily damaged, limped to where Peter was splayed out.

    "You'd better be alive, pipsqueak." He grumbled. Peter shakily raised his hand up. Sam grasped it and pulled Peter to his feet. Immediately, Peter wobbled and collapsed once again. "Hey," Sam said sharply as he tried to catch Peter.

    "We won?" Peter gasped, holding on to Sam's arms as his knees crashed to the ground. Sam smiled as he tried to hold Peter up, his legs almost buckling as well. "We did it. We won! W-we won. We-" His breath runs out.

Sam laughs. He tried once more to pull the teenager up. Peter sways and heavily leans on Sam, but hes upright.

    "Where's Mr. Stark?" Peter asks, breathless.

****************************

Tony was motionless, eyes stuck on a fixed point somewhere straight ahead. The right side of his face and body were gray, ashen, and cracked. The Infinity Stones still glowed from their place on Tony's right gauntlet.

    "M-Mr. Stark?" A voice quivered.

Tony didn't move, but he saw Peter kneel down so their eyes could meet.

"Can you hear me?"

Tony remained as he was: silent, motionless.

"We won," Peter squeaked. "W-we won, Mr. Stark. We won."

The hero still sat without any inclination of life in his body.

The child, beginning to lose hope, felt tears spill over his eyes. "Mr. Stark. G-god...I'm sorry. Tony," He was pulled away. The strong metal hands of War Machine were gentle on his shoulders.

Pepper, in her Rescue armor, threw her helmet to the ground. She softly knelt in front of her husband, right where Peter was sitting seconds earlier.

    "Hey," she smiled. Her voice was warm and gentle.

    "Hey, Pep." Tony's barely audible croak was lost to most ears.

    "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Pepper's golden voice barely broke, and you woundn't have noticed if you weren't really listening.

The AI's answer was low and quiet, but still heard.

    _"Boss seems to be in shock. He will survive and should be back to normal health with days of rest and consumption of fluids."_


	2. A Vigil Until You Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The main Avengers wait in silence at the New York Sanctum as Tony rests.

The last thing Tony remembered before slipping under, was seeing Pepper's smiling face.

Six years ago, when Tony went under during he procedure that finally removed the arc reactor from his chest, he thought that would be the very best sleep of he'd ever have.

Boy, was he wrong.

The hours of sleep that followed the battle with Thanos were the best in his existence.

He dreamt of the Stones, and of their aura and enticing glow. Bright flames of six colors dancing in a void of darkness.

 

Ropes of purple, wrapping around his arms and entwining with his hands.

Blue, twirling over his legs.

Green strands, lacing around his abdomen.

Strings of yellow, twisting around his head.

Orange, spiraling and surrounding his chest.

Red cords, coiling around his throat.

 

They called to him, seeming to speak in an unknown language without words. 

They were not evil, but they were certainly not benevolent. 

Tony felt relaxed in their company. His head, always crowded with numbers and doubts, was quiet except for the Stones' low humming. 

He could still feel them coursing through his veins. However, the tormenting pain was only a memory. All that remained was the dull feeling of power, space, time, mind, soul, and reality softly flowing through him.

 

"...y...wake...please.." 

A voice. A real one. Not the Stones, not in his head. Tony forgot he was dreaming. 

The Stones' seemed to push him away. They disentangled their auras from around his body

Without speaking, they seemed to say "Wake." 

He did.

****************************

Peter had a lot on his mind. He was bursting at the seams with excitement, adrenaline, elation, confusion, and relief. And he knew the others felt it as well.

After Thanos and the Black Order turned to dust, the Avengers and their congomeration of armies were left there, all standing on heaps of decimated rubble.

Many had begun cheering and screaming. Euphoric tears were falling. Relief and glee were diffusing in the air.

Doctor Strange had opened up a sparkling yellow portal to get Mr. Stark somewhere where he could rest and recover since the compound had been demolished.

The portal had led to the New York Sanctum where Doctor Strange worked. Stephen had insisted this was a safe place for Mr. Stark and the other Avengers to heal and rest.

Once they had stepped through the portal and into the Sanctum, Mr. Stark was rushed to another room with Pepper and Stephen, leaving a dozen or so lightly injured Avengers littered around the Sanctum.

A few sorcerers at the Sanctum helped Peter dress his wounds. Oddly, Peter was silent the whole time. They carefully bandaged the gashes on his face and even put his knee back in place, which he had never even noticed was dislocated.

Colonel James Rhodes watched from a distance. From what he could remember, the kid usually never shut his mouth. But it was understandable for a sixteen year old kid to be a little quiet after the events that had just preceded. 

He watched as Peter quietly told the sorcerers that he would be fine from this point on. He thanked them, and flashed a fake smile as they left him sitting on the hard wooden staircase.

Rhodey, now out of the War Machine suit, slowly made his way to the lonely boy and gently sat down next to him.

"You gonna be alright?" He asked, not meeting the boy's eyes. Dumb question.

Peter nodded, head pointed to the ground.  
"We won." He whispered. "Mr. Stark won."

Rhodey smiled. "Yeah," He didn't know what to say. What do you say to a child who just fought in the war to save the universe? A child whose mind and heart are aged far ahead of his body?

So he settled for silence. Understanding, peaceful silence.

 

And it lasted. 

 

An hour passed.

Two.

Three?

"I want to see Mr. Stark." Peter piped up. He'd said it louder than he'd meant to. Rhodey heard, and so did the entire room. He'd meant to say it quietly, but his voice seemed to have built up in his throat during those hours of silent thought

Steve and Bucky turned their heads. 

Rhodey wasn't going to argue. Hell, he'd been wanting to go see his best friend for the past three hours. But, Doctor Strange had insisted that peaceful isolation was recommended while Tony slept. 

Bullshit, because Rhodey knew Pepper was at Tony's bedside ever since he was brought here.

"Let's go," Rhodey stood. Peter looked up with wide eyes, as though he was expecting his request to be harshly refused. 

*****************************  
Rhodey knocked, to be polite. He debated just walking in, but decided against it.

"Come in," Pepper's delicate voice called from the other side.

Rhodey pushed the heavy oak door open.

The room was dark and cozy. It was a small candlelit bedroom with a wooden desk and bookshelves.

Pepper was sitting in a rather uncomfortable-looking chair at the side of Tony's bed.

"Where's the doc?" Rhodey questioned.

"He left about an hour ago. He said Tony should wake up sometime tomorrow." Pepper answered.

Rhodey heard Peter swallow hard when their eyes fell upon Tony.

His pale face and cracked ashen skin. You could see blackened veins underneath translucent skin. Somehow, he looked peaceful.

"He's fine. He'll be fine." Pepper breathed. She stood from her seat. She swayed a bit, and it became obvious that she hadn't moved from that seat for hours.

Pepper exchanged a relieved smile with the Colonel, and then her gaze drifted to Peter.

The boy's face was bruised and bandaged. His hair was wild and his eyes were excited and sad all at the same time. 

Pepper wrapped the boy in her arms.

Peter stopped holding it in. He finally, after hours, let every emotion spill. He buried his face in Pepper's shoulded and sobbed. 

"It's over, it's over." She hummed. "You were amazing, Spiderman."

Peter's sobs began melting into laughter. God, the boy was delirious. 

Pepper kissed the top of his head. The teenager pulled away. He sniffled, eyes bloodshot and glossy. 

"Get some rest, kid. It'll do you good." She whispered. Peter, mind frayed, almost told her how much she reminded him of his mother. 

"B-b-but Mr St-" Peter stuttered.

"He'll be waiting for you when you wake up, sweetheart." Pepper's smile was glowing. She cupped her hands around Peter's face. 

Then, she let Rhodey take him away.

As they left, she caught a glance outside the door.

Standing, waiting, outside the bedroom door, was everyone. Everyone clustered outside the door, waiting.

Steve, Bucky, Sam, Scott, Thor, Wanda, Clint, Nebula, T'challa, Carol, and Bruce. Even Rocket, Quill, Drax, and Mantis. 

Pepper watched as the door closed, leaving her yet again alone with her husband.

She sat down.

 

She let the silence sit for a while.

 

 

"Tony," she sighed. "Wake up, please."

 

 

 

 

She didn't expect brown eyes to flutter open seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really all that proud of this chapter? I kinda rushed it and bullcrapped it. It took a lot of time and editing though, so I'm sticking with it.
> 
> I promise things get good in the next chapter!!


	3. Wakey Wakey, Eggs n' Bakey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The savior of the universe awakens.

Peter had been sleeping for an hour or so when the news came.

***************************  
Rhodey had escorted the shaken teen to one of the many bedrooms in the Sanctum, and left him.

When the door had closed, leaving Peter alone with his head, he'd heard Rhodey speaking with someone. 

"Kid's fine," Rhodey said. "Shaken. He'll be good. Even better after Tones wakes up."

"Man, I can't wait to go home and celebrate." Sam's voice was gleeful

"There's no home to go to," a somber voice, Wanda's, had softly murmured.

"Course there is," Sam rebuttled. "Cheer up, you just helped save the universe. Does no one actually realize what just happened?" Sam laughed. "We just saved the fucking universe."

"Easy, Sam. I'd bet anything the kid's listening to every word we say." Rhodey chuckled.

"What a punk."

Wanda had giggled. 

Peter had heard their footsteps gradually soften as they left.

The teen had slumped over on the soft sheets of the bed and drifted to sleep.

**************************

An hour of sleep before the news came.

Furious knocking, rapid and heavy, as though someone was trying to break down the door.

 

"Up and at 'em, Spider-boy!!" Clint's voice shouted from the other side of the door. "Your old man's awake!"

 

Peter had never jumped out of bed so quickly in his life. 

He went flying out the door, nearly tackling Clint in the process. He raced down the flight of stairs, Barton trailing behind.

He caught up with Sam, Bucky and Steve, who were all quickly making their way to Tony's room as well.

"H-he's awake already?" Peter breathlessly asked. "How long was he asleep?" 

"Six hours at most," Sam answered. "Doc said he'd be under for at least a day. We don't know what happened."

"Well, he's never been a heavy sleeper, now has he." Steve smiled.

 

They arrived at Tony's door in seconds, only to find the door open and a cluster of people obstructing their view.

Peter, small and nimble, pushed past Wanda, Bruce, Carol, Thor, and Quill. He'd barely had the time or energy to wonder how they'd gotten here before him.

He pushed to the front of the crowd.

 

Pepper and Rhodey were sitting by the bed.

 

 

Brown eyes met Peter's. Healthy and alive. Full of pride, relief, and love.

 

An enormous grin crossed the mentor's face.

 

 

"Hiya, Pete."

 

Peter sniffled, swallowing back his tears.

 

"H-hey, Tony." 

 

Peter didn't catch the way Tony's eyes lit up when the boy called him by his first name.

On the other hand, Tony didn't remember when the boy had called him "Tony" while he was sitting motionless on the battlefield as the teen assumed his mentor to be dying.

 

"Hate to tell you this," Tony shifts, trying to push himself into a sitting position with Pepper and Rhodey's assistance. "But you've got five years worth of homework to catch up on." 

Peter laughs from his heart, letting a few stray tears spill.

 

Steve pushes forward and stands next to Peter.

 

"Mornin', Cap'n." Tony smirks.

"Feeling better?" Steve asks, pressing his lips together to suppress an idiotically large grin.

"Loads." Tony gazed warmly at the super soldier. "Mind helping me up, Spangles?" 

Pepper tried to protest. "Tony, I don't really think that's a good id-"

"Darling," Tony cut her off. "I promise, I feel like a million bucks."

"How?" Carol Danvers chimed up from the doorway. She smiled, viciously intrigued. "You held the power of all six Infinity Stones and you're playing it off like a bicycle crash." 

 

"Maybe he's half planet on his father's side." Drax grumbled.

 

"Shut up, Drax." Quill scolded.

 

"All that matters is that everyone is alive." Wanda's words rang through the air so all twenty other Avengers could hear . "And we can go home."

 

A family was found. Everyone could feel it. It didn't matter if they'd only known someone for a few hours or ten years, they were family.

 

Tony,

Pepper,

Rhodey,

Peter,

Steve,

Sam,

Bucky,

Clint,

Wanda,

Bruce,

Thor,

Scott,

Stephen,

T'challa,

Carol,

Quill,

Drax,

Rocket,

Groot,

Mantis, 

Nebula.

 

 

And they were never going to let each other go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly canon can eat my ass. I'm doing this my way and I dont care if it doesn't make sense at all lmao.
> 
> Endgame hurt me, so this is how I cope.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I needed to write my own alternate version of the Endgame ending where Tony lived. Sue me. 
> 
> The following chapters will take place AFTER Endgame but it will still heavily reference the events of Endgame and include several spoilers.
> 
> This is my first fic I've ever written, so go easy on me haha. I'm not the most informed person on the planet and there's a lot of stuff about the world that I don't understand


End file.
